Aquatic and Wetland Vascular Plants of the Northern Great Plains
45. Scrophulariaceae, the Figwort Family
9. Veronica L. -- Speedwell4. Veronica peregrina L. -- Purslane speedwell
Small, simple to diffusely branched annual 0.5-3 dm tall, erect or curved at the base, conspicuously glandular-pubescent, especially above. Leaves sessile, opposite near the base, becoming alternate in the inflorescence, oblong to linear-oblong or oblanceolate, 5-25 mm long, 1-5(9) mm wide, rounded at the tip, entire to irregularly toothed. Flowers subsessile in terminal, lax racemes which comprise most of the plant, the leaflike bracts gradually reduced upward; pedicels to 1-2 mm long in fruit; calyx 2-5 mm long; corolla inconspicuous, white or whitish, ca. 2 mm across. Capsule obcordate, notched at the tip, 2.5-4 mm long, 3.5-5 mm wide. Jun--Aug. Mud flats, shores, ditches, temporary ponds and swales; common; (Temperate N. and S. Amer. and intro. in Europe).
The prevalent phase of V. peregrina in our area has short glandular
hairs and is called var. xalapensis (H.B.K.) St. John & Warren. The
glabrous var. peregrina is rare, entering our range in e NE.
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Return to Family -- Scrophulariaceae - The Figwort Family
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